Chapter 624 Bulls, Cars, Farmers, and Cops

Staring at the mysterious object about to magically appear in a cloud of smoke, Alex's expression immediately sours.

“A fucking fridge,” Alex mutters, opening it and finding only various alcohol bottles inside. “Fucking trash.”

Soulmate, while Princess Jewel agrees... some of these bottles might be worth something. The capsule itself, while old, should also be worth a little. Princess Jewel’s research says that turning an object into a fixed capsule is very expensive. Capsules like this one, which offer storage for non-fixed objects, are cheaper, but still valuable.

“I guess...” Alex says, agreeing, turning the fridge back into a capsule.

He then opens another case, only to find a single capsule in it again. Once again, he presses the button and throws it in front of him, revealing a wooden weapon rack filled with various weapons.

“Oh?!” Alex says, staring at the different weapons. “Not bad!”

Searching through the stash, Alex’s mood quickly sours again. While he finds five White Quality weapons, he’s still somewhat dissatisfied with his spoils.

Grabbing the White Quality weapons and adding them to his inventory, he quickly loots a few more weapons Jewel ignored and then places them on the weapon rack, filling it up to the brim, even more than it was before, before turning it back into a capsule.

Might be able to sell that capsule... to the right buyer, of course.

Finally, he opens the third case and finds yet another single capsule inside.

“These fucking poor bandits...” Alex complains. “No wonder they’re so poor, deciding to rob people this far away from civilization. They are as stupid as they are unlucky for having met us.”

Opening the final capsule, Alex doesn’t have much hope, but to his absolute surprise, a small gray-blue hovercar is inside.

Quickly turning it back into a capsule, the previously unknown capsule is now properly named.

[Capsule (Silverstar 3)]

World: Dragon Ball

Quality: Deep Green

Note: A reliable, somewhat well-maintained, yet outdated hovercar, offering reasonable performance despite its heavy use and age.

Note: Can’t be taken out of this world.

“Nice... but where is the damn gas? Don’t they have some supplies? We’ll run out quickly, and this thing becomes useless....” Alex wonders, his joy quickly waning.

Soulmate, hovercars were made by Dr. Brief and are based on alien technology. They do not require gas, but instead run on highly advanced anti-gravity technology. This one should be able to get us almost everywhere without requiring an external energy source. Normal cars requiring gasoline exist and are much cheaper than these advanced hovercars. Soulmate found a real treasure this time.

“This Dr. Brief is a fucking genius indeed,” Alex points out. “Well, that will certainly speed things up. Let’s go!”

Princess Jewel will pass on flying and let Soulmate drive.

“Heh... flying, you say? I like it!” Alex says, once again activating the capsule and stepping into the hovercar, with Jewel joining him on his head.

Starting the hovercar, which takes Alex a couple of tries as he’s not quite sure what to do, he successfully gets it moving, easily crossing the hilly terrain of the Wastelands.

However, his actual speed is pretty much the same as before, as he warily controls it and doesn’t take any risks.

Maybe... Princess Jewel should fly- no, this could only be called hover, after all.

“Fine, I agree with the criticism this time,” Alex replies, sighing. “Still, I wanted to get a feel for it first. Don’t want to crash our only mode of transportation.”

Speeding up, the hovercar reaches incredible speeds that he could never match on foot, easily five times as fast as he was before, especially on difficult terrain, which is no issue at all for the hovercar.

❤️

Carefully increasing the speed and adjusting the course, Alex gets used to the hovercar in no time, now driving it comfortably, with Jewel visibly enjoying the fresh, cool air as she sits on Alex’s head, her body now partially hanging in the air above Alex’s head because of her increased size.

After a few hours, Alex, maybe through extreme good or bad luck, actually encounters another potentially dangerous creature, a large bull with its head lowered to the grass, performing chewing motions as it calmly eats. The bull is muscular and has a thick neck, seemingly lacking any obvious weak point, clearly a step above a regular dangerous animal.

A bull! Princess Jewel suggests hunting it for meat.

“Menchi said something like that. I guess I promised her. I really hate doing it when it’s just peacefully eating grass,” Alex says. “But... I know. Let’s do it.”

Parking the hovercar, Alex jumps out of it and lands next to the bull, only now realizing its size, easily twice that of a regular bull.

Also, taking a closer look, Alex actually sees a dead, half-eaten beastman on the ground, one resembling a boar, the mouth of the bull completely bloody as it slowly chews the meat of its victim.

“Grass my ass...” Alex mutters as the bull has now spotted him and stares at him menacingly, appearing quite gruesome and dangerous with its blood-covered mouth.

Time for another test... let me put on my gloves at least.

Now wearing just his gloves, still looking like that of the Ebony Knight, Alex activates Grim Reaper’s Card of Destiny and conjures a card, the A❤️, touching it with his right glove, feeling it mysteriously strengthen just by touching it, as well as adding Aura with Shu, before throwing it with all of his might, aiming for the bull’s eyes. As it makes impact, Alex hears a terrifyingly dull, yet wet sound as it completely disappears into its head, leaving behind a large, red cut.

You have dealt 48 x 9 = 432 damage to Wasteland Bull

You have crippled Wasteland Bull (right eye)

You have crippled Wasteland Bull (head)

You have stunned Wasteland Bull

You have caused bleeding

The bull, completely dumbfounded, collapses in shock, its eyes moving aimlessly as it fails to comprehend what just happened, its body wildly spasming.

Damn... the Ace card didn’t do a lot of damage... but it was a double-crit...!

“... Jewel!” Alex calls out. “Can you finish it?”

Of course, Soulmate!

Jewel jumps from Alex’s head, calmly walks over to the grounded bull in front of him, uses Ko on one of her front legs, and then stabs her sharp, spear-like leg deep into its head, piercing its brain. The increased size seemingly adds a little more weight to her attack, making Alex almost feel sorry for the poor Bull who got overwhelmed by his incredible LUK.

Jewel has dealt 101 x 3 = 303 damage to Wasteland Bull

Jewel has killed Wasteland Bull

“Thank you,” Alex says, walking over. “You see... I had a reason why I wanted you to—”

Princess Jewel thinks Soulmate is quite smart! This bull is not weak, but it would be wasteful to acquire a lacking Conjuration from such a generic enemy.

“... Can’t you give me the win and let me explain so I appear smart?” Alex says, his head slumping forward.

Princess Jewel couldn’t be more impressed and in love with Soulmate, so additional bragging is absolutely not required to win her heart. Soulmate has already secured it for all of Eternity ❤️.

“...” Upon hearing Jewel’s thoughts, Alex is unable to come up with a response.

“That bluntness is impressive; somehow it makes me feel happy, but also pretty stupid,” Alex comments as he lowers himself, petting her as he inspects the fallen bull.

[Wasteland Bull Corpse]

World: Dragon Ball

Quality: Deep Green

Note: The corpse of an adult Wasteland Bull. Most of its meat is tough and lean, yet full of flavor and nutrients.

“I can gather it all at once... nice,” Alex says, genuinely astounded as he pulls the bull into his inventory, making it almost magically disappear.

Menchi will be happy.

Princess Jewel agrees!

“Let’s catch some more!” Alex says, picking up Jewel, cleaning her leg with a tissue from his inventory, and carrying her back to the hovercar.

Encountering no more animals or robbers for quite a while, Jewel suddenly urges Alex to stop.

Soulmate! Please stop. Princess Jewel found something interesting.

As Alex stops the car, Jewel jumps onto the grass and quickly scurries up a small grassy hill nearby.

She swiftly returns with three herbs webbed onto her body.

Alex grabs them and smiles, seeing the system recognize them.

[Kokoro Herb]

World: Dragon Ball

Quality: Light Blue

Effect: Recovers 60 HP and a small amount of Ki over 1 minute.

Note: Can be processed into various medicines, able to treat internal injuries.

“What the...?! Three Light-Blue herbs?! How?!” Alex wonders, suddenly wide awake.

Princess Jewel likes using Gyo from time to time. She sensed weak but noticeable Auras on that small hill.

“Good job!” Alex says, petting her again. “That was insane, easily a 21,000 FC find, I’d say. 7,000 FC per herb sounds reasonable... and they are not only rare but quite useful, though I don’t have any Ki.”

Over the next day, Alex and Jewel, thanks to the hovercar, cross over a thousand kilometers, more than 600 miles.

They encounter more bandits and lawless robbers, whom they always make sure to dispose of and even chase down, on the sole condition that they were targeted first. For their efforts, they plunder a few more generic capsules, three White weapons, dropping outright and not from chests, as well as 80,000 Zeni.

They also make a stop for every impressive animal species they encounter, dutifully hunting them down, all for the sake of Menchi, but also so she can keep cooking and keep earning FC for the group.

All in all, Alex and Jewel collect three more Light Green and Green giant animal corpses: a lizard larger than Jewel, a wild boar, and a giant rat-like animal.

Alex’s only lament is that they didn’t find more of the rare and useful [Kokoro Herb] that Jewel found.

Finally, as the vegetation turns friendlier and friendlier, Alex and Jewel come across the first house, a round, medium-sized home with a large farm.

A man, seemingly a farmer working in the garden, stares at Alex sceptically but still politely nods, approaches him, and greets him. “Good day to you, young man. You look a little lost. Can I help you?”

“This might sound crazy, but my aircraft malfunctioned, and I crashed it far up north and barely survived. I was walking south toward the city and then almost got robbed by bandits. Thankfully, my Martial Arts abilities saved me, and I was not only able to escape but also acquire this hovercar from them.”

“You?! Far north, you encountered bandits... don’t tell me... the bear-gang?!” The farmer asks in shock.

“Yeah, the leader was a bear,” Alex confirms, nodding at him.

“Incredible! They’ve been terrorizing the Wasteland for years. You must be a skilled Martial Artist. You know the 22nd Martial Arts World Championship is beginning soon. You might want to sign up and test your luck. I heard the prize pool is 500,000 Zeni, and with your abilities, you definitely qualify for the main round. I heard last year’s winner is an elderly man named Jackie Chun, yet he can use the technique of the famous Turtle Hermit, the Kamehameha. Compared to him, you look even more impressive; maybe you can put up a good fight.”

“I intend to do that, but I don’t believe looks matter much,” Alex replies honestly. “Sorry, but... I’m a little spoiled; I like to fly around, haha. Not used to driving around in a hovercar. Can you tell me how I can get to West City?”

“With your good old Silverstar, it won’t take too long,” the farmer says, inspecting Alex’s hovercar. “If you ignore the villages and small towns you’d normally travel through and drive in almost a straight line south, you can make it before dawn. As you get closer, you won’t be able to miss the roads; you can’t miss the city either, as all the roads you’ll soon see lead straight into it.”

“Thank you!” Alex says, nodding at the man. “Makes total sense.”

For once....

Continuing their travel, Alex indeed sees a few villages and then, a few hours later, small towns in the distance. Hovering above a long road, the sun slowly setting, Alex sees the towering buildings of West City as he drives his hovercar inside.

Looking almost like needles, with large, round houses placed on long, relatively thin columns, Alex feels as if he has arrived in the future. Seeing many modern-looking airships, capable of landing and taking off without difficulty, unlike traditional airplanes, as well as plenty of hovercars, hoverbikes, and normal cars, Alex feels excited to explore this place.

Seeing multiple signs, Alex isn’t quite sure what to do, so he carefully follows a hovercar in front of him, so as not to risk getting into trouble.

However, to his absolute shock and frustration, he gets pulled over immediately by a police car.

Not again... why do I have so much bad luck with cops lately?!